[LESS]Artists's statement:
"The question of identity for second generation Irish people is a complex one. . . Often we have internalised a sentimental sense of Ireland culled from childhood stories and holidays 'home'. A nostalgia for rural Ireland and our parents' feeling of loss and exile become entangled with the stories of Irish suffering and British oppression told to us as we grew. Yet we have no language, accent or skin colour to make us visible either to Irish people or to other second generation Irish people, and often our parents are the first to point out to us that we are English.
Setting out to question the divisions set up between politics and psychology, documentary and art, 'Distant Drums' is a lyrical documentary work that both explores and celebrates the cultural identity of second generation Irish people in England.
Heightened awareness of Irishness, growing politicisation with the escalation of events since the Anglo-Irish agreement and the resulting anti-Irish media coverage are paralleled by a relatively new celebration of Irish culture by the second generation.
The installation is a waiting room at a railway station or ferry port; some battered old suitcases are on the floor, and autumn leaves litter the room. The monitors are arranged in a line; their screens echoing train windows, the videotape providing glimpses of Irish lives, Irish community and Irish history.
The journey echoes the real journey of the Irish to England looking for work as well as the journeys of their children in search of a sense of belonging."
Video Positive Commission.
New Commission.
